Samsung Galaxy S5 gets an early launch by three major carriers in South Korea without Samsung's approval, leaving the tech giant puzzled.
Samsung says it has no idea why its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, has been launched two weeks early in South Korea. Just a day after Samsung dismissed the rumors about the early S5 launch, three major carriers started selling the handset, Thursday. Samsung said the company had no involvement with the early launch of the device and the tech giant was not approached for any consent on the decision made by the carriers.
SK Telecom, the largest mobile provider in South Korea, released the Galaxy S5 on its network two weeks ahead of the actual release. The move prompted other carriers, KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp., to follow suit and start selling the handset on their networks. Samsung said in a statement that it is "very puzzled" by the unexpected launch in South Korea and is deciding on how to respond.
While the South Korean tech giant had bigger plans in store for the global launch of Samsung Galaxy S5, the carriers in its native country did not want to miss out on the early sales. The early launch was sparked by a 45-day ban on carriers that prohibits them from signing up new customers, starting April 5. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the ban was imposed on carriers as a penalty for providing illegal phone subsidies.
"We are very puzzled," Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung official said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. "SK Telecom strongly asked for an earlier release of the product but we delivered our stance that the global release date of April 11 remains unchanged."
In an email statement sent to Bloomberg, Thursday, Irene Kim, a spokeswoman for SK Telecom said the carrier "decided to release the product for a wider consumer choice of handsets before our operation suspension begins on April 5."
Samsung has already supplied limited number of S5 handsets to mobile carriers in the country, but only to fulfill the pre-order demands on the launch date and for marketing purposes.
At this time, it remains unclear whether Samsung will call off the device sales in the country or consider launching the flagship smartphone early in other countries too. SK Telecom is selling the Galaxy S5 for 866,800 won ($808) without two-year contract in South Korea.
